Keeping Up Appearances
by paulacole
Summary: Sam gets in a game on oneupmanship with an old school friends and drags Daniel along for the road. I'm not good at light multichapter fics, so please be nice! Feedback welcome.
1. Chapter 1

Keeping up Appearances 

Set sometime between Carter becoming a Major and Janet dying ; Samantha feels compelled to keep up with a competitive school friend, and drags Daniel along for the ride…

And I am in no way affiliated with MGM, the SciFi channel or anyone affiliated with Stargate. I write for my own pleasure and anyway, I'm a poverty-stricken student, it's not worth suing me over.

Chapter One 

Major Samantha Carter was hard at work trying to reverse-engineer the latest bit of technology they'd pinched from the Goa'uld when her mobile phone rang. She glanced at the name on the display: Tiegan King. Tiegan, her close friend and often bitter competitor from high school. There had been four of them, Samantha, Tiegan, Sarah Ashley and Alanna Murphy. Though their jobs had taken them far and wide, they still made an effort to catch up via weeks away together every six months or so. Samantha took it that this meant Tiegan was organising the next getaway ; it was about the right time, and the only time that Tiegan ever called her.

Tiegan and Phillip King had this thing against single women in their social circle ; something about them bringing bad luck, upsetting the balance or some such thing, like Samantha would hit on all the married men and upset their wives. Samantha had always found in interesting that it was OK for single _men_ to be part of that social group. Not that she cared, the more time that passed between them the less Samantha and Tiegan had in common, but still…

Sometimes she wondered why she bothered to go to these things. It was always good to catch up with Sarah and Alanna, of course, but really, it was high school, she had come a long way since then.

She hit the receive button. "Tiegan," she said smoothly.

"Samantha!" Tiegan said with false warmth. "How is everything? You still working on that astro-whatsit?"

"Oh, fine, fine," Samantha murmured. "And yes, I am." Tiegan liked to let people know that she was rising in the ranks of the CIA ; she liked to hint at the state secrets she knew. When Tiegan started to brag like that, it always made Samantha smile inwardly. Clearly, there were some state secrets she _didn't_ know about.

"So, I was organising a week away," Tiegan got straight into it, not bothering to ask any more questions about Samantha's life. "Next month, the third to the seventh. You free?"

Samantha checked her datebook. She wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing that she was free. SG-1 was clear for mission for that fortnight, having earned a break. She'd actually been wondering what to do with herself. Jack was going fishing, and taking Teal'c with him ; he had made it clear that, as much as Samantha was 'one of the gang', it was a men-only thing. That had made her smirk. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

"I'm free," she said. "Are Sarah and Alanna in?"

"Yes… and their boyfriends," Tiegan informed her. The last three words sounded suspiciously tacked on. Subtlety had never been Tiegan's strong point. "So that makes seven of us."

So _that _was the point she was making ; three attached women, and Samantha. Tiegan _always_ had a field day about Samantha's unattached state. Several times Samantha had to choke on the reply that she was too busy saving the known universe to find a boyfriend.

She wasn't sure exactly what possessed her to say it, but she blurted out, "Eight. I didn't realise we were bringing partners." They never had before, Samantha had a suspicion it was arranged that way this time solely for her benefit. "I'm sure my boyfriend would love to come."

"Boyfriend?" Tiegan asked, sounding suspicious.

Samantha laughed, except it sounded more like a choke. "Yeah, my boyfriend… you know, we go out on dates, spend a lot of time together… are a couple." Oh, boy, how did she get out of this one?

"Oh." Needless to say, Tiegan sounded very surprised. She couldn't remember the last time Samantha had a boyfriend, she was so geeky and work obsessed. "Oh, I'm sure that will be OK. What's his name?"

"Daniel," Samantha blurted out before she'd thought about it. Oh, God, how was she going to get out of this one?

"And what does he do?" Tiegan asked. "So I can tell the girls."

_Like hell you want to tell the girls_, Samantha thought. _You just want to catch me out_. Well, there was no help for it now and if there was one man in her life that she knew well, it was Daniel Jackson. "He's a linguist, a Doctor, the most brilliant man I ever met," she said. "I can't wait for you to meet him, Teegs, he's got the most intense blue eyes and not exactly difficult on the eyes." May as well milk the situation for all it was worth given the difficulty of getting herself out of it.

"Oh." Tiegan sounded a little disappointed. "Well, then, I guess we'll see you and Daniel on the third then. "

"I guess you will," Samantha said. "Thanks for calling. Take care."

"You too," Tiegan said before hanging up the phone.

Samantha put her phone down and stared at the wall, panic starting to rise up in her stomach. Oh, God, what was she going to do now? She couldn't show up to this week away with no boyfriend in tow – she would never live it down. Her only alternative was to admit everything to Daniel and throw herself at his mercy.

She decided of the two, she would rather face Daniel. That, or bail altogether, which Tiegan would take to mean she'd been lying about her boyfriend – almost as bad to fessing up to it. And she didn't want to miss it – as competitive as Tiegan could be, Samantha had always enjoyed their weekends away. Plus, if she could actually convinced Daniel to go ahead with her plan, the look on Tiegan's face would be priceless.

Oh, God, was she actually thinking this? But the alternative…

She gathered up her courage and made her way to Daniel's office where, typically he was entranced by whatever artefact he was studying now. Samantha couldn't really blame him, give her a piece of alien technology to study and she'd be just as absorbed.

She knocked on the door and Daniel looked up, shocked out of his reverie. He smiled when he saw Samantha ; she hadn't been exaggerating when she'd told Tiegan Daniel had the most brilliant blue eyes. Not to mention a killer smile. And the greatest thing was, he didn't know just how damn attractive he was. "Hey, Sam," he greeted her warmly. "What's up?"

She took this as an invitation to scoot into the chair opposite him – after closing the door so no-one would hear their ridiculous conversation, of course. "I need your help," she admitted sheepishly.

"On a translation?" he asked.

"No, I uh…" Oh, to hell with it, she decoded to just blurt it out. "An old friend of mine invited me to a week away, and she was really high and mighty about me being the only single woman there, so I kind of told her I had a boyfriend… and I gave her your name… and description… and now if I don't show up with you, she'll never let me forget it."

"So you want me to go with you and pretend to be your boyfriend for a week?" Daniel asked.

"Five days," Samantha corrected. "Monday to Friday. We've got a week off, I checked. I can't believe I'm asking you this, but I'm desperate."

"Why are you friends with someone who makes you feel bad about not having a boyfriend?" Daniel asked.

Samantha didn't bother to explain ; men could never understand such things. Girls could be incredibly bitchy and competitive with each other ; it helped them remain competitive and driven, even if it could get a little heavy-haded sometimes. Samantha doubted she would have ever had the drive to become a Major in the airforce if it hadn't been her initial desire to get one up on the likes of Tiegan James, as she had been known then.

"I'll pay you," she said lamely.

Daniel raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You must be desperate," he said. He wondered what kind of 'friends' she had tat she would resort to such tactics to impress them. Not that he though he was all that impressive, but if she was desperate… "You don't have to pay me, Sam, if you need me that badly, but you will have to pay all my expenses." If he was going to be stuck with a bunch of women who sounded pretty bitchy, damned if he was paying his own way as well.

Samantha nodded gratefully. Daniel had just saved her from abject humiliation at the hands of Tiegan King, any price was reasonable as far as she was concerned. Impulsively, she crossed the distance between them and hugged him tightly.

Daniel had never contemplated anything between him and Samantha, although he wasn't adverse to being hugged by an attractive woman. "And no-one else is to know about this. OK?" he added ruefully. "I wouldn't want anyone to know you've got me completely pussywhipped. And you owe me big time."

She looked up at him and gave him a grateful smile. "Whatever you want," she promised, her eyes sparkling.

_Why don't we start with you staying in my arms a little while longer?_ Daniel thought. Now, where had that thought come from? He had always thought of Samantha platonically… or at least fallen into the habit of squashing any nonplatonic feelings for her for the sake of his marriage, now dead along with his late wife Sha're.

That reminded him… reluctantly, he pulled away from Samantha and tugged at his wedding ring. "Should try and lose the tan line then," he said.

Samantha knew that he never took his wedding ring off, even though Sha're had been dead for a few years now and lost to him for two and a half years before that. "Daniel, you don't have to do that," she said.

"And explain why I'm still wearing my ring when we're so happily in love?" Daniel asked, trying to hide the pained expression on his face as he slipped the ring into one of his desk drawers for safekeeping. It was strange how it felt to take off that ring – it was mostly habit that he wore it, and a sense of loyalty to the woman he had loved so much… but who he'd fallen out of love with long before she'd actually died.

Samantha looked at Daniel in awe. She must really mean something to him – as a friend, of course – if he would take off his wedding ring to go along with this little charade. She vowed she would make it up to him with something really special. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thankyou," she said.

When she displayed affection like that, Daniel found it hard to begrudge her something like the absence of a wedding ring from a marriage long dead. "Hey," he said gruffly, not wanting her to see how affected he was by her show of affection, "It's not like I had anything better to do anyway. But how about we just tell people you're spending the week with some old friends and I'm going with you?" Being this close to Samantha might be affecting his thinking, but he could think straight enough to know that he would never live it down if people knew he'd agreed to be Samantha's boyfriend for a week. _All the hassles of having a girlfriend and none of the perks_.

A thought occurred to him. "Will we have to share the same bed?" he asked.

Samantha hadn't thought of that. "Uh… probably," she admitted. "The place we usually go to is a four bedroom with Queen-sized beds… I can sleep on the couch of you want."

"I think I can manage to share a bed with you, Sam," Daniel said with a smirk, although if she kept looking at him with that happy, grateful expression… "We've slept in close proximity before. I just wanted to know, so I'm prepared. Is there anything else I should be made aware of?"

"Just that Tiegan can be quite… _aggressive_ sometimes," Samantha said.

"You mean bitchy?"

"I wouldn't say _bitchy_ exactly," Samantha said cautiously. "She just makes herself feel better by putting others down sometimes."

"Yeah, I call that bitchy," Daniel said. Not to mention insecure. But he'd agreed to go, and who knew, it could end up being an interesting experience. Or he could end up never wanting to speak to Samantha again. Oh, Christ, why had he agreed to it? He should have just let her stew in her own juices – it would have served her right, for saying such a stupid thing in the first place.

Still, he was kind of flattered that, when she was bragging about her nonexistent boyfriend, the first man she'd thought of was him – and not Jack. Maybe _that_ was what possessed him to agree, his bloody ego. Well, there was no going back now. He couldn't bear to have Samantha angry at him after she was so grateful he'd agreed to it.

The fortnight passed routinely, with no major hassles like saving the world one more time to deal with. Jack and Teal'c were really excited about their fishing trip – or, rather, Jack was excited, and Teal'c was excited by proxy – and didn't pay much attention to the fact Daniel was going with Samantha on her week away with old schoolfriends. Jack figured it was just a matter of Daniel not having anything better to do with his fortnight off, and since Sha're had died, he and Samantha had been awfully chummy…

They were driving down, it not being worth the cost of the airfares. "Thanks once more for this," Samantha said gratefully as they started off.

"I won't say 'anytime' because this is a one-off," Daniel assured him. "And you owe me."

"That I do," Samantha agreed. She owed Daniel far more then he would ever realise, because he would never appreciate the crap Tiegan would have given her for showing up without a man – or not showing up at all. But, oh, it would be wonderful to show up with her 'boyfriend' – especially a 'boyfriend' as hunky as Daniel was. Samantha had met Tiegan's husband a few times, he was quite a successful lawyer, but no prize in the looks department.

They talked the entire trip there with their usual chumminess. Samantha came to the conclusion that the reason Daniel had sprung to mind when she'd said she had a boyfriend was that of all the people she knew to share a long car trip with, Daniel was number one. She had a feeling that was Daniel there, these five days with Tiegan weren't going to be nearly as bad as she'd first anticipated.

They found the house easily enough – a sprawling four-by-one that Tiegan had rented for the week – and pulled into the driveway. Daniel gave her a sympathetic little smile. "You ready to do this?" he asked.

She nodded. She was apprehensive about pulling this off, but looking forward to seeing Tiegan's face when she introduced them. "Yeah," she said. "I'm ready."

"Then let's get this show on the road."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two 

Samantha knocked on the front door of the rental house. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Daniel was looking at her strangely. "Sorry," he said. "You look like a lifelong sinner going to plead for clemency from St. Peter. "

Samantha scowled. "I think I'd take that option right now," she admitted. "This was hardly my greatest plan."

Daniel smirked. "Compared to, say, saving the world? No, it isn't. But we're here now we may as well go through with it – or you're going to lose an awful lot of face. C'mon, it won't be as bad as you think it is."

Samantha smiled, grateful for the reassurance. Yes, Daniel was the best person she knew to help her out of this sorry mess. Maybe things _wouldn't_ be as bad as she'd imagined.

Tiegan came to the door, and Samantha began to think that it _was_ as bad as she'd initially thought. Tiegan looked every bit the success story – glamorous but professional, the woman who had everything.

Sensing her nervousness, Daniel slipped his hand through hers. Normally he wouldn't have dared such a familiarity unless it was a life-or-death situation but he could see she needed it and besides, since they were acting like a couple…

"Samantha!" Tiegan cried in one of those fake-friendly voices that women who looked like her always seem to have down pat. "So great you could make it." She stepped forward to hug Samantha, and Samantha was forced to let go of Daniel's hand – which she had found, for the few seconds it was holding hers, to be quite comforting – and embrace her 'friend'. It was far from Daniel's place to make a judgement about women, but even to him, the embrace was superficial, even forced.

Tiegan withdrew from Samantha and gave Daniel a long, intimate look that made him feel like she was coming onto him. He swallowed hard. Even from Samantha's descriptions of Tiegan – after all, she hadn't gotten to where she was by being something of a predator – Daniel couldn't believe she would be so blatant. "You must be Daniel," she said in what sounded suspiciously like a purr. Daniel could quite easily imagine her as a tigress, complete with lethal claws.

He stepped forward and went to shake her hand, but she beat him to the bunch and hugged him. "Sam said you were quite the looker, and I see she hasn't exaggerated," Tiegan said. "Come in, come in, meet the rest of the gang."

Samantha and Daniel followed Tiegan inside. In the lounge room were five other people. Samantha recognised Phillip King as well as Sarah and Ashley, and she assumed the other two men were their boyfriends. " This is my darling husband, Phillip King," Tiegan drawled, gesturing to her husband who, as Samantha had said, wasn't much to look at – but he looked very rich. "And our friends Sarah Ashley and Alanna Murphy and their men, Arthur Phillips and Lachlan Macquarie. This is Samantha Carter and Daniel…?"

"Jackson," he said. And just because he had a feeling it would irritate Tiegan to know how educated Samantha's 'man' was, he added, "Doctor Daniel Jackson."

Tiegan looked impressed. "You're a doctor?"

"He has two doctorates," Samantha piped up, seeing where Daniel was going, God bless him. "Archaeology and Ancient Egyptology." _You're husband may be a lawyer, but he's not a Doctor_, Samantha thought smugly. Her own doctorate annoyed Tiegan to no end, especially given she had tried and failed to get her own.

"You must be very intelligent," Tiegan cooed, in front of her husband too, who didn't seem to mind. Maybe he was used to it.

"Daniel was accepted into uni when he was sixteen," Samantha piped up. "Sometimes we don't know what we'd do without him."

"Oh? And what exactly is it that 'we' do?" Tiegan asked. She had always been trying to pin down the details of Samantha's job but she always evaded her questions.

"Classified," Samantha and Daniel replied in unison. Tiegan frown for a split second before rearranging her face into a smile. She'd always suspected Samantha did more then she let on, although Tiegan had never been able to find a record of her in the government databases.

"Why don't you two take a seat?" she offered, gesturing to a spare couch. Samantha and Daniel sat. Tiegan took note of the fact that when Samantha sat down, she was awfully prim for someone who was on a week away with her friends and boyfriend. She also noted that it was _Daniel_ who put his arm around her and for a split second she looked uncomfortable before she relaxed and it was as if they really _were _together. Hmmm, interesting…

Samantha had tensed up for a split second when she felt Daniel's arm snake around his waist as he drew her closer to him – more like a boyfriend then a friend. "Follow my lead if you have to," he whispered low in her ear. Years of working often covertly and they knew how to communicate in plain English without anyone hearing them ; to the casual observer, it had just appeared he had whispered a sweet nothing in her ear. Daniel was sweet to think of it. It must have been at least as awkward for him to initiate such an intimacy as it had been for her to accept it.

After a few minutes, she found herself relaxing in Daniel's embrace and she rested her head against his shoulder. He smelled nice, clean but masculine. There was something very comforting about his smell – the familiar? No, it was just that… for a few seconds her scientific mind tried to work it out and then gave up. All that mattered was that Daniel was here to help her through this sorry mess, and she was eternally grateful for it.

"So," Tiegan purred, looking Daniel directly in the eye and pretty much ignoring Samantha. "How did you guys meet?" She was determined to catch them out. No way did someone like Samantha land someone like Daniel. She sent a sideways glance at her husband, who was wealthy and successful but not exactly good looking.

"At work," Daniel replied evenly, knowing Samantha was trying to put together something more elaborate. "We can't tell you much more then that, it's – "

"Classified, yeah, I get it," Tiegan said. Hmmm, Samantha had definitely been keeping some secrets. First the secret government job, now the 'boyfriend' – maybe she was faking both. Tiegan smiled grimly. It was be a pleasure to expose her as a fraud.

The conversation moved on, and the four women began trading memories from high school, which was what they always did. "Daniel," Tiegan cooed, "did Sam ever tell you about the time she tried speed and it made her so horny she did two guys in one night?"

It was way below the belt, and she'd brought it up just to make Samantha squirm. For sure, they all had the moments, Tiegan had plenty worse then Samantha, but Samantha was so prissy about it, so easy to make fun of…

There was a collective gasp from Sarah and Alanna and Samantha went white. Daniel was quite to lace his fingers through hers and hold her hand conformingly. "Of course I did," he lied. There was no need to worry that Tiegan was making something up to try and catch them out – it was quite obvious from the way Samantha had reacted that it was true. "Sam and I tell each other everything. Personally, I've always preferred women who embrace their sexuality instead of repress it. Lets say I found Mae West far more interesting then Grace Kelly." And with that he gave a long, pointed stare at Tiegan and her cool blond good looks.

Tiegan was flustered. She hadn't expected such a response from Daniel. Could it be true, that they really _were_ honest with each other and he didn't care? That jab about Grace Kelly had annoyed her. No way was she less interesting then a tramp like Mae West. She almost said so, except she had a feeling Daniel would have a biting comeback. She wasn't willing to get into a battle of wits with a man of his intelligence.

At this point, Alanna skilfully drew the conversation away from anything controversial. The eight of them chatted casually for an hour, before everyone retired to their rooms to get ready for dinner – and perhaps, Tiegan added slyly, looking in Samantha and Daniel's direction, rejuvenate themselves. Everyone knew what _that_ meant – Samantha and Daniel especially.

"She's horrible!" Daniel exclaimed when he and Samantha were in their room together, the door closed. Just in case, though, he kept his voice low, although void of none of the vehemence he'd intended to eject. "That crack she made before – " he saw Samantha go white, and he decided to drop it. "Sorry."

Samantha lowered her head. She didn't want to look Daniel in the eye. It had been one night twenty years ago, and God knew Tiegan had done plenty worse, but it wasn't something she was proud of. She didn't want to lose Daniel's respect over it. "You know it's true," she said in a small voice.

Daniel quickly closed the distance between them to take Samantha in his arms. "I figured it was from your reaction," he admitted. He gently cupped her chin and forced her head up so she was looking at him. "You know I don't care about that. I meant what I said. I find you much more interested then I do her and whatever you did along the way, well, who am I to judge that?"

Samantha sniffled and knew tears were close. It only made things worse that Daniel was being so nice about it. "You're just saying that to be nice," she accused him half-heartedly.

"I am not, I mean it," Daniel responded. "You know how much I respect you, don't you Sam?" he asked, searching her eyes for some kind of affirmation.

Samantha nodded. She _did_ know how much Daniel respected her, and loved her – as a friend. "Thanks for standing up for me," she said.

"No problem." He kissed her on her forehead, and she felt a tingle go down her spine. She decided it was just her wounded ego responding to some much-needed respect. It wasn't like she was attracted to Daniel or anything. No, that would be far too messy. She and Daniel were just friends.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Samantha asked anxiously. "It's not that I'm ashamed, exactly, but – "

"Yeah, I know," Daniel said, and he did. There were such unfair double standards about men and women in the military, even for someone like Samantha who had proven time and time her brilliance. That she had helped save the world several times over didn't seem to make up for the fact she was a woman and, as such, was subject to much more conservative standards when it came to her sexuality. If such a story about Jack got out, it would be treated as a fine joke, and Jack would be admired for his sexual prowess and stamina. But Samantha would never live it down. "You know I wouldn't tell anyone."

She granted him a small smile of gratitude. "Thanks," she said. "If you don't mind, I think I'll have a nap for a little while, it'll help me unwind. You can stay if you want, but – "

"I'm not tired, I'll just annoy you," Daniel said. The truth was, he _could_ do with a short nap after such a long drive, but he wasn't tired enough to deal with sleeping next to Samantha in a comfortable Queen-sized bed. The ground on a foreign planet he could do fine, but such a comfortable situation, not just yet. "I think I'll go and read for a bit."

Samantha smirked. She just _knew_ Daniel would bring one of his chunky archaeology or history books. She was sure he ordered them all in their original languages just to be pretentious, like someone reading _War and Peace_ in Russian just because they could. "Have fun," she remarked dryly, and she settled down to sleep.

Daniel wandered into the kitchen to make himself a coffee – he didn't care what everyone said about it being a stimulant, it calmed his nerves and his nerves needed calming after dealing with Tiegan – and then into the lounge room to curl up with one of the chunky books he'd brought. He was sure Samantha would have brought one of her chunky astrophysics books if it hadn't have been the high of antisocial.

He began reading, but he found it hard going. He was a little tired, and rattled by Tiegan's attack on Samantha – not to mention her little revelation. It wasn't that Daniel thought any less of Samantha, just that it was something of a shock. Samantha had always been his commanding officer – inasmuch as a civilian _can_ have a commanding officer – and a brilliant scientist who he had a hell of a lot of respect for. He had never thought of her as a sexual being before and he had to admit, just to himself, that more then anything rattled him. If he started thinking of her as a sexual being, then he'd start thinking about their few chaste kisses on the cheek… and how maybe he wanted more. And he _definitely_ did not want to think about that.

Putting down his book, he stared into space for a few moments, trying to gather his thoughts. He was soon interrupted by Tiegan sashaying through the lounge room. She really was quite an attractive woman, but that cool blond deal had never been Daniel's thing – too much maintenance. Not that he was one to pass over a beautiful woman – Sha're had hardly been ugly – but if it didn't come naturally he wasn't interested.

"Daniel," she cooed. "I thought you'd be… _resting_." Her emphasis on the word _resting_ made it clear what it was a euphemism for. "Where's Sam?"

"Resting," Daniel said coolly. "She thought she'd need it to deal with you at dinner."

"Oh, you mean that silly comment I made?" Tiegan trilled. "That was nothing."

"You mean, nothing other then an attempt to hurt her and drive a wedge between us?" Daniel corrected. "It didn't work, on either count."

Although Tiegan had her doubts about the legitimacy of their relationship, it was clear Daniel cared about her. Why, Tiegan had no idea. "What goes on between you and Sam is none of my business," she cooed. _Or what doesn't go on_. She walked over and perched on the edge of Daniel's chair. "The same as… what goes on between you and _I _is none of _her _business." She reached over to trail one manicured set of fingers down his arm.

Daniel jumped up. Jesus Christ, was she _hitting_ on him? "What are you doing?" he asked, when it was quite obvious what she was doing.

Tiegan pouted. "I thought it was quite obvious," she said. "I thought maybe we could have some… _fun_."

Jesus Christ, she _was_ hitting on him! "You're _married_," he reminded her. "I'm dating your friend."

"Doesn't bother me," she said, and she lunged for him, kissing him.

He pushed her away violently. Even if he wasn't going through this stupid charade for Samantha, he still wouldn't be into her. He'd known Tiegan wasn't the most moral woman around, but her indifferent attitude to fidelity shocked him. Why on earth had Samantha bothered to remain friends with such a nasty piece of work? "You're mental!" he said and stormed off.

He went to his and Samantha's room, which had an ensuite, and hurriedly began stripping off. He stepped into the shower. Tiegan had only touched him briefly but he could swear he reeked of her scent. Samantha had warned her she was a predator, but he couldn't believe she was this bad. She had absolutely no qualms about who she propositioned! _Why, oh why did you bother?_ he asked Samantha in his mind.

The hot shower did a lot to take his mind off things, and he emerged fifteen minutes later feeling very _clean_. He realised in his hurry to get into the shower, he hadn't taken a change of clothes into the ensuite with him. There was no help for it – he would have to go into the bedroom wrapped only in a towel to get his clothes. With any luck, Samantha would still be asleep.

No such luck. Years in the military had taught her how to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow – or the ground, as was often the case – and she'd only needed twenty minutes sleep. She'd woken up to hear the shower running in the ensuite, and she wondered what Daniel had been doing that he needed to get clean from.

Immediately, she thought of Tiegan and what a predator she was. Samantha knew from experience that Tiegan had a pretty loose definition of fidelity, and her heart sank. _No way_, she told herself. _Daniel wouldn't go for someone like her… and it's only been twenty minutes_. Still, her mind wandered off to thoughts best left be.

The idea of Daniel with Tiegan – hell, Daniel with another woman – made Samantha a little jealous. She didn't know why, she had no claim to him. But he could try being a little discreet about it…

Daniel came out wearing only a towel wrapped casually around his hips. He looked very… _edible_. She'd forgotten how much he'd toned up since joining the Stargate program, or it just hadn't registered with her. And the stray droplets of water running down his back and his still-damp hair only added to his yumminess. Samantha couldn't help but entertain thoughts of yanking off that towel.

He rummaged through their wardrobe until he found what he was looking for, and turned around to see Samantha, wide awake and shamelessly staring at him. It was hardly the first time she had caught him in a state of undress – or vice versa – but it was the first time in several years the blood had rushed to his cheeks over it. It must be the distracting thought he'd been having over her that was doing it. Certainly, she wouldn't be encouraging him, of that he was sure. She was too professional for that. They were just friends.

"Just, uh, let me get dressed," he said, becoming more and more aware of how little he was wearing. He had always been self conscious about his body, had never gotten beyond seeing himself as the weedy nerd. No wonder Samantha was looking at him ; she was amused by his dorkishness. And he bolted into the bathroom.

He emerged a few minutes later, looking very nice in a casual-dressy way. He was wearing black pants and a long-sleeved button-down shirt – dinner attire. Samantha certainly wouldn't mind going out to dinner with him.

"That friend of yours, Tiegan, is an absolute bitch," Daniel complained, not mincing words. "She totally came onto me, when I told her about you and Phillip, she said she didn't mind if I didn't!"

He shuddered, and Samantha smiled. Of course Daniel would be put of by someone who was as much of a predator as Tiegan was. "You didn't, uh – ?" she started to ask.

He made a face. "God no. She kissed me and it was – " he shuddered again. "That's why I had a shower, it felt like I reeked of her."

Relief flooded through Samantha, although she wasn't sure why. It wasn't like who Daniel slept with was any of her business. "I thought you were having a shower because…" she trailled off, too embarrassed to finish her sentence although it was clear what she was talking about.

"I don't know what to be more insulted over," Daniel said in a mock-hurt voice, "that you think I would sleep with someone like her or you think it would only take me ten minutes. I'll have you know, I have plenty of stamina."

He didn't know why he'd said that last part, it wasn't relevant to his defence, it was merely bragging. The truth was, he was quite confident in his sexual abilities but it wasn't like he was going to prove that to Samantha anytime soon so mentioning it at all was just _crass_.

For some reason, Samantha suddenly had the urge to challenge Daniel to prove that statement. She didn't know why, and she didn't know why she was even thinking about it, but something told her Daniel was someone who liked to take his time… and made it very worthwhile for the lucky woman.

Instead she said, "I told you she was aggressive."

"By _aggressive_ I thought you mean a little flirtatious. She was fully coming onto me, she didn't care about you and Phillip!"

"That's Tiegan for you," Samantha said. Tiegan had always been a maneater as well as ultracompetitive, although she was a little shocked that their 'friendship' meant so little to her that she would come onto Daniel with Samantha in the next room. "Well, thanks for not, um, giving into her advances," Samantha said. For some reason she felt the need to add, "It would have looked pretty bad, you are I supposed to being a couple and all." Rather then Samantha having any claim on Daniel in a romantic sense.

Daniel made a face. "I wouldn't have been interested in her even if it wasn't for you – and Phillip," he insisted. "She's not my type." His type, he thought, was more intelligent, more earthy, more low-maintenance… like Samantha. _OK, don't go down that road_, he ordered himself. "Why don't we get ready for dinner?" he suggested. That seemed pretty tame.

Samantha nodded and slipped off the bed and headed for the shower. She was glad to be out of the same room with Daniel ; there was something happening between them that she wasn't sure she liked. She and Daniel were just friends, and she was confused because of the way he had stood up to her and told her he didn't think any less of her despite Tiegan's mean-spirited comments.

Half an hour later, she was ready. And she looked pretty damn good, although she'd put in the minimum of effort. That was what Daniel liked about her, she could look good without preening for hours. There was something comforting about a woman who didn't take much longer to put herself together then he did.

Dinner was nice, at a local restaurant that Tiegan had chosen – of course. Daniel discovered that Lachlan Macquarie was a historian, and while his knowledge wasn't quite up to Daniel's level – he was yet to meet anyone who was – and they got along quite well. Since they were in a public place, Tiegan didn't dare make any mean comments, and Samantha relaxed with Sarah and Alanna. She remembered the reason she came to these weeks away – and it wasn't Tiegan.

When Daniel went to the toilet, Sarah gave her a conspiring smile. "Daniel's quite a catch," she said approvingly. "And he's devoted to you." Alanna nodded her agreement. Privately, they were appalled by Tiegan's behaviour. She had always been jealous of Samantha's success. Anyone could see from the attention Daniel showered her with that he was completely in love with her.

Samantha smiled winningly. She felt a little bad that she had deceived her friends – after all, if it were just them, she wouldn't have bothered to lie – but since she was deceiving them, she may as well bask in their praise. Privately, she was incredibly grateful to Daniel and the effort he was putting into making their relationship look 'legit'. On a dozen occasions he had leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, held her hand or touch her wrist, leaned over to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She knew he was focusing on her, taking note of any opportunity to make contact with her. He was probably thinking of Sha're and those little opportunities a person took to touch the one they loved. Daniel just kept surprising her. He was a real gem. Her heart fluttered a little when she thought of the effort he was going to just so she wouldn't lose face. Yep, she owed him big time.

A few times she caught Tiegan glowering at her, and whenever she did, she responded with a winning smile, knowing that, at leats for the time being, she was up on the woman. She knew Tiegan's ego was bruised because Daniel had turned her down – that must be a rarity for her, a beautiful Grace-Kelly-type blond offering sex and being turned down. That make it all the sweeter.

"Thankyou," she said to Daniel when they were in their room later tonight. "What you did – you've gone above and beyond what I asked of you."

He shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "She was being such a bitch to her, I wanted to help you get back at her. She looked like she was reading to murder you."

"When you kissed me, I looked over to her, she looked like she was ready to crave me up with that steak knife of hers," Samantha admitted. "Thankyou so, so much Daniel. This means so much to me. I know – it must be kind of hard to pretend like that. You were thinking of Sha're, weren't you?"

"Kind of," he admitted. He didn't dare tell Samantha he'd enjoyed touching her far more then he'd expected he would. That would make him sound like some kind of pervert. But the feel of her skin, the texture of her hair, the scent of her… Daniel swallowed hard. He had to stop thinking like this.

They got changed into their pyjamas but didn't go to sleep straight away. Instead, they stayed up talking for two hours and the stress of dealing with Tiegan all day melted away in Daniel's presence.

Finally, at almost two in the morning, they turned off the lights and drifted asleep. God knew they needed it, they had a long day ahead of them tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three 

_I'm sorry, I know I said light-hearted, but this is me! To all my old readers, you should have known it was coming. To all my new readers, you should have read my profile, the bit where it says I specialise in angst. But never fear, they'll get it together… eventually. _

Samantha woke up feeling very relaxed and very comfortable. Slowly she became aware that it had been a long time since she had woken up in a man's arms and though it felt very pleasant, she knew there was something not quite right about it…

She realised that, at some point during the night, she and Daniel had ended up spooning, with her back pressed against his chest, and his one arm wrapped around her waist securely. It was very comfortable, more so then it should have been – if Hammond were to see them now, he'd blow a gasket.

Mind you, if _Tiegan_ were to see them now, she'd be green with envy, every doubt she'd had about their relationship evaporating. _Pity_.

Reluctantly, Samantha pulled away from Daniel. She had hoped not to wake him up, but no such luck. Her movements – like an animal trying to get out of a steel trap, the way Daniel had his arm around her – caused him to wake up. For a few seconds, his mind dwelled on how comfortable it felt to be so close to a woman – and they he realised that he was that close to _Samantha_, which was definitely not appropriate.

Funny, when he thought about it later, he realized that his first thoughts wouldn't have been of Sha're. He was only a little disappointed that the only proper thing to do was quickly retreat to their sides of the bed.

"Sorry," he said. "Don't know how that happened."

Samantha shrugged. She felt somehow _less_ now that she was no longer cuddled up to Daniel. There was a part of her that wanted to throw herself back in his arms. She repressed that part. "No harm done," she quipped.

They had their showers and dressed and went into the kitchen to find Lachlan and Sarah making breakfast – apparently their specialty, from the delicious smells that were wafting through the house.

"This should just about wake Tiegan up," Sarah commented wryly. Tiegan was notorious for being asleep or otherwise absent when it came to such things as making breakfast and other household chores. "Just in time to eat."

"And I bet she'll find herself otherwise occupied when it comes to the dishes," Daniel quipped.

"Something like that," Sarah agreed.

Samantha and Lachlan went to set the table, which gave Daniel the opportunity to talk to Sarah privately. "How come you guys still keep in touch with Tiegan?" he asked. "She doesn't seem very nice."

Sarah laughed. "That's a very diplomatic description," she said. "It's Tiegan who keeps in touch with everyone else – I think because she liked to lord her success over all of us. We never hear the end of all the government secrets she knows – what's so funny?" she asked when she caught Daniel smiling to himself.

"Nothing I can tell you," he said. "But let's just say Sam and I know much cooler government secrets." He looked sheepish. "I probably shouldn't have said that."

"I won't tell anyone," Sarah said. "And for what it's worth, it's good to know there are some things even Tiegan doesn't know. You know, you and Sam are really good together – we don't see much of her boyfriends, she works so hard and I think guys are intimidated by a woman as smart as she is – hell, _Tiegan's_ intimidated by her, that's why she's such a bitch."

"I noticed," Daniel commented dryly. He had a feeling he could really like Sarah – and Alanna – especially if he had the opportunity to know them away from Tiegan. As far as Tiegan was concerned, he only had three more days to put up with her.

True to Sarah's prediction, Tiegan showed up just as breakfast was being served. She had clearly been up for some time, because she was stylishly dressed and perfectly made up – you'd think she was going to a formal dinner and not just breakfast at home with old friends.

"How did everyone sleep?" Tiegan asked, looking directly at Samantha.

"Fine," Samantha purred sweetly, deciding to bend the truth a little, "it's so nice to fall asleep in Daniel's arms."

Sarah laughed out loud, Alanna tried hard to supress a smirk and Tiegan cowled. "Too much information," she snarled. She wasn't exactly a gracious loser. Daniel's rejection of her yesterday had been a blow to her ego – men _never_ rejected her!

Tiegan had planned the day out to the last minute, which she explained to everyone after she returned from filing and painting her nails – a job of extreme emergency which came up just when the table was being cleared and volunteers for washing the dishes being sought. All day the eight of them trekked to the various attractions, to lunch at an upmarket restaurant where the waiters fawned all over Tiegan.

They got back to the house late in the afternoon. Tiegan took a 'rejuvenating nap', dragging Phillip with her, and the other six of them retreated to the courtyard, where their noise could be ignored. Tiegan loved for people to know what a healthy sex life she had.

"He's the _biggest_ womaniser," Alanna piped up knowingly.

"Because _she's_ such an angel," Sarah added. "The two of them deserve each other."

"She came onto me yesterday," Daniel admitted. "Whenever everyone else was napping, I came out to read a book. I think she was waiting for me."

"That doesn't surprise me," Sarah said. "She could never stand it when one of us had a better-looking guy then her." She leaned back in her chair. "God, it's peaceful without the two of them. We need to do this more often, just the six of us."

"Agreed," Daniel said, momentarily forgotten that four days was long enough to pretend to be in a relationship. When Tiegan wasn't around, he enjoyed himself. Sarah and Alanna were terrific women, and their boyfriends were good fun too. And it was so easy to be with Samantha, it almost felt like they were together. His mind kept going back to waking up with Samantha in his arms. He had no idea how it had happened, but it had felt so right. He'd been sorry he'd pulled away.

Immediately, he was sorry he'd thought such a thing. No way could he and Samantha be together. It was fraught with complications. And Jack would kill him.

Samantha went into the kitchen to put the percolator on to make coffee. She watched her friends and their boyfriends and Daniel from her vantage point and smiled to herself. Daniel was doing far better then she had imagined. Sarah and Alanna loved him, and they were convinced Samantha and Daniel made a great couple. Samantha felt a twinge of guilt, but decided she wasn't hurting anyone. And she was really sticking it to Tiegan.

Daniel's 'agreed' comment had surprised her – she would have expected him to make some vauge, noncommital response. Instead, he had seemed quite keen to see them again – which, of course, was impossible, but still… for some reason, she could easily imagine she and Daniel hanging out with Sarah, Alanna and their boyfriends.

_Don't be silly_, she chastised herself. _This is just pretend, on Friday it will all be over. He's just doing you a favour. That, and Tiegan's thoroughly pissed him off, I think he likes sticking it to her as much as I do_.

As if she knew she was being thought about, Tiegan materialised in the kitchen. Actually, she had been waiting to get Samantha alone. It had disgusted her the way Daniel had been all over her yesterday – all over _Samantha_, when he had rejected her so totally! If the rejection wasn't bad enough, that he had to reject her for such a plain Jane drove the knife in further. Well, she'd get to the bottom of it.

"You and Daniel make quite the couple," she said snidely.

"Thankyou," Samantha said, pretending she hadn't heard the snideness in Tiegan's voice.

"Quite a couple," Tiegan repeated, "for the fact he still has a ring tan."

For a split second Samantha felt panic flood through her. She forced herself to relax. "Really, Teegs, if you'd just asked I would have told you Daniel was married. I knew her actually, he was distraught when she died a few years ago. That's the kind of guy he is, absolutely devoted to the woman he loves. We haven't been together very long – not in the sense you mean – that's why he still has a ring tan. Which brings me to my questions – you must have been looking awfully hard to see something like that. One would almost thing you were trying to trip me up."

Tiegan glowered. "He came onto me yesterday," she blurted out. Samantha figured she had to be desperate to resort to an untruth like that. "When you were asleep. He told me what you didn't know wouldn't hurt you. I'm only looking out for you, Sam. You always had such poor judgement in men."

"You meant when _you_ came onto _him_," Samantha corrected. "You thought Daniel wouldn't tell me something like that? Clearly, you're judging everyone by your own standards – which have never been very high, I must admit."

That Samantha refused to be riled up or admit anything infuriated Tiegan. She _knew_ something was wrong. Samantha Carter did not land men like Daniel Jackson. _Tiegan_ landed men like Daniel Jackson. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right.

With a shriek, Tiegan lunged at Samantha and soon the two women were on the floor in an old-fashioned catfight that sent everyone else running into the kitchen. Lachlan and Daniel separated them, with Phillip nowhere to be seen, no doubt gone to check out the local talent, as was his style. Alanna and Sarah tried to look disapproving as they communicated with each other with glee in their eyes. It was always a treat when someone provoked Tiegan out of her cool demeanour.

"Sam, go to our room _now_," Daniel ordered Samantha. "And _you_," he said menacingly to Tiegan, "I don't know what you said or did and I don't particularly care. But if you upset her again you'll answer to me." There was a dangerous glint in his eyes that made Tiegan think the best thing to do at that particular moment was look contrite.

Daniel followed Samantha a few moments later. She was pacing across the floor, very worked up. "Hey," Daniel said, trying to stop Samantha mid-pace ; she stopped violently, facing him. Her eyes spat anger. "What the hell happened?" he asked.

"She's a mean-spirited cow!" Samantha yelled.

"I could have told you that," Daniel said mildly. "And you might want to keep your voice down before she hears something she can use against us. What exactly did she do?"

"She worked out that you used to be married, and made a big deal out of it… then she said you'd come onto her, and when I told her she was full of crap, she attacked me. I was only defending myself."

Daniel smirked. Samantha had a military standard of 'defending herself' ; what she'd been doing was closer to kicking Tiegan's ass. "I wish you hadn't provoked her, but I suppose she had it coming."

"Damn right she had it coming."

"Do you want to go home?"

"Now that I've kicked her ass? No way. I want to watch her spew. She knows she can't do anything but glower, it'll be fun to watch."

Daniel sighed. "You're playing with fire, Sam, why don't we quit while we're ahead?"

"She insulted me. She can't stand the fact that you're better looking then Phillip, who, by the way, is a womanising ass. Right now I bet he's trowelling the bars for fresh meat. Every time we get together, she goes on and on about what a fantastic marriage she has, and now she's made an ass of herself. I _like_ having the upper hand for once. I want to stay and enjoy it."

Daniel sighed heavily. He knew better then anyone that once Samantha had made up her mind she would stick something through to the bitter end. "OK," he said warily. "But if this ends badly, you've got no-one to blame but yourself."

Smiling gratefully, Samantha hugged Daniel. "You've been terrific," she said.

"No problem," he said dryly, hugging her back. He ran his hand down her back and was surprised at how tense she was. Clearly, this thing with Tiegan was bothering her more then she was letting on. "Sam," he said, "take your shirt off and lie face-down on the bed."

She pulled away from him and looked aghast. "Daniel!"

He looked indignant. "That is _not_ what I meant," he said crossly, a little offended that she thought so little of him. He might be having inappropriate thoughts about her but that didn't mean he was going to act on them. "I only wanted to give you a massage. You feel really stressed."

Samantha looked sheepish. She really should have known better then to assume Daniel was coming onto her. It was just because she'd been having inappropriate thoughts about him that her mind jumped to the obvious – and wrong – conclusions. "Sorry," she said. She turned her back to Daniel and began unbuttoning her shirt, slipping it off her shoulders. She lay on the bed face-down as Daniel had told her to.

Daniel straddled her and ran his hands over her back. "Sam," he said evenly, not wanting to give her the wrong idea again, "I'm going to unclip your bra, it's too hard to do it properly."

It felt strange to be in such an intimate situation with Daniel. When you were in a life-or-death situation, you often had close physical contact and you learnt not to care about it. But this was different, probably because without the adrenaline rush that came from staring death in the face, she was very aware of the fact she was half-naked with Daniel on top of her. But her apprehensions quickly dissipated when Daniel touched her. He knew what he was doing. She could feel her concerns melting away, although that could also be Daniel's soothing presence. She gave a little sigh of contentment.

"Enjoying yourself?" Daniel asked, just a little smugly when he heart Samantha sigh.

"This is wonderful," she admitted. "You're a man of hidden talents. Where did you learn this?"

There was a pause before Daniel said, "Sha're. They had a big culture of natural therapy on Abydos." For some reason, he felt uncomfortable bringing up his late wife with to Samantha.

Samantha felt the tiniest twinge of jealousy when Daniel mentioned his late wife. She ignored it and focused on the matter at hand. She hadn't realised how strung out she was from dealing with Tiegan, and Daniel was making it so easy for her to relax…

After fifteen minutes, Daniel realised Samantha had drifted off to sleep. He was pretty pleased with himself and glad that he'd been able to make her relax, God knew she needed it. He would never understand why women felt the urge to one-up each other to the bitter end – he would have walked away years ago. But that was Samantha's choice, and he'd agreed to come with her, so he figured he owed it to her to stay.

He pulled a spare blanket from the linen closet and draped it over her, leaving her to sleep. He went into the kitchen to make himself a coffee then into the lounge room to drink it.

Tiegan was nowhere to be seen, and Phillip was presumably still out on the prowl, but Sarah, Alanna, Lachlan and Arthur were there. "How's Sam?" Alanna asked as soon as she saw Daniel.

"Sleeping," Daniel said. "Where's Tiegan?"

Alanna shrugged. "Probably gone to find Phillip."

"Or beat him at his own game," Sarah piped up. The two women shared a knowing look. Tiegan and Phillip's 'open marriage' was an old story.

Alanna turned to Daniel. "You know, she's normally not this mean," she said. "I think you being here has really bothered her."

"Me? What did I do?" Daniel asked. Apart from rejecting Tiegan's come-on, and she'd shown her animosity towards Samantha long before that.

"She's always gloated to Sam that she's got a better life – a better job, a better man. She can't stand that Sam's found someone who's better look then Phillip, is clearly mad about her – and has a Doctorate, too. That's a bit of a sore point to Tiegan, she was never as smart as Sam."

"She sounds pretty insecure," Daniel noted.

"She is," Alanna admitted. "She makes herself feel better by bringing other people down. That's why she's being such a bitch, because she's known Sam's got one up on her."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Daniel said dryly. Not that he considered it difficult to be a better man then Phillip King.

"It's obvious you care a lot about Sam to stay with her through this," Sarah piped up. "If it was me and Lachlan's friends were acting like Tiegan is, there wouldn't be enough money in the world to make me stay."

"Yeah," Daniel said, choosing his words carefully so he could tell the truth without directly admitting to their non-existent romantic relationship, "I care about her a lot."

The five of them talked casually for an hour and Daniel was beginning to feel sorry that he and Samantha weren't in a real relationship, and that after this week he would most likely not see these four people again because he really liked them. The easy atmosphere was broken by the front door being opened and then slammed shut, followed by stomps in the front hall – heavy boots and stiletto heels – and Tiegan and Phillip entering the lounge room, looking stony. Clearly, they'd had a bitter fight about something and were struggling to look cheerful – and failing miserably.

The noise woke Samantha up, who realised that she'd fallen asleep. She assumed it was Daniel who had covered her up – he was such a sweetheart. She smiled when she recalled how good it had felt when he'd been massaging her back. She had to find a way to make it up to him, although she was beginning to think she was too far in his debt to ever do that properly.

After a few seconds, she realised the noise was being caused by Tiegan, who had returned with her husband. Knowing she wasn't going to get any more sleep, Samantha got up and got dressed, heading for the lounge room.

Everyone but Samantha – including Tiegan – noticed the way Daniel smiled when he saw Samantha. He shifted over on the couch so Samantha could sit next to him. "Sleep well?" he asked innocently.

"Fabulously," she said honestly. She turned to her friends and said, bragging just a little, "Daniel gives the _best_ massages, so relaxing, put me right to sleep."

Tiegan glowered and Samantha rested her head against Daniel's chest. She liked the smell of him, although she wasn't analytical enough to realise it was because she liked _Daniel_, a lot, and therefor liked everything associated with him.

"What's up with Tiegan and Phillip?" Samantha asked Daniel when they were in his car, driving to the restaurant Tiegan had chosen for dinner that night.

"I guess they had a fight," Daniel said. "They came in just before you got up – I guess they woke you up – and they both looked absolutely furious."

"Trouble in paradise," Samantha couldn't help but gloating, the stresses of dealing with Tiegan long forgotten.

Doing their best to ignore Tiegan and Phillip, dinner was a pleasant affair. They lingered over coffee, made all the more pleasant by Tiegan announcing they were 'tired' and were going home (a cover up for the fact she was bored with intellectual conversation and wanted to have sex) and leaving the six of them to it.

After they got home, Daniel and Samantha stayed up for another few hours talking until they drifted asleep. At some point she ended up lying against him with her head on his chest. They had been through a lot that day and being in such close proximity seemed more natural then it had that morning.

Listening to his heartbeat was quite soothing. Or maybe it was just being with Daniel that was soothing. Samantha had never thought about it before, but now that she did, she realised there had been dozens of times when she had found Daniel's presence soothing. He always knew how to do things without pissing a whole lot of people off, which was more then could be said for Jack most of the time. Yes, Daniel was definitely the right person to bring to this week away – and it certainly helped that, when provoked beyond endurance, he was perfectly capable of holding his own in provoking back. God, she loved him.

As she drifted off to sleep in the security of Daniel's embrace, she wondered if she meant that sentiment for real or not.

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Like they had on Tuesday morning, on Wednesday morning Daniel and Samantha woke up in each other's arms. She was curled up in his arms like she had been when she fell asleep, only it felt more natural this morning then yesterday morning and she was reluctant to leave the security of his arms.

Daniel woke up slowly, aware of the weight on his chest. Funny how it felt more natural to be this close to her then it had yesterday – but then, they'd really bonded yesterday. At least Tiegan was good for something.

As the day wore on, he became more and more aware of how easy and comfortable it was to be with Samantha. He had never thought about it before, probably because they'd mostly been in official situations, but he and Samantha were very close and these last two days had only made them closer. He felt more comfortable about her then he had on Monday, and the affection he showed her came easier until it felt natural to kiss her cheek, stroke her hair… _mustn't think inappropriate thoughts_, he kept telling himself.

As the day wore on, Samantha because more and more aware of how easy and comfortable it was to be with Daniel. She'd never thought about it before, probably because they'd mostly been in official situations, but she and Daniel were very close and the last two days had only made them closer. She felt more comfortable around him and started to look forward to his little displays of affection – his lips on her cheek, his fingers through her hair… _mustn't think inappropriate thoughts_. Not that she did anything to discourage his affection. She quite liked having his arms around her when they sat on the couch together, the gentle tone he used whenever he spoke to her, his affection kisses – and not just because it made Tiegan glower…

If Samantha had been a little more insightful, she would have realised Daniel's affection was directed only at her, without thoughts of Sha're and with little thought of proving Tiegan – that was just a bonus. But she wasn't that insightful, so it never occurred to her that the connection – and the chemistry – between her and Daniel was steadily growing…

That day Tiegan's opinion was overridden and they decided to have lunch at home. Alanna was slicing bread when disaster struck. She was distracted by Tiegan whining about the amount of fat in salami and cut deeply into her hand before she realised her hand was in the knife's path between it and the chopping board. There was blood everywhere, although Samantha could see it was 'just' a deep cut, there were no cut nerves or exposed bones. It was something she could take care of herself with her basic medical training. "Daniel," she said evenly, "go and get the first aid kit out of my bag." The Stargate Command had the best first-aid kits, and given the program went through seventy billion dollars a year, she figured they wouldn't miss one. Which had proven to be a wise decision.

Daniel dashed into their bedroom and rifled through Samantha's suitcase. He found the first aid kit easily enough, and yanked it out of the case.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw, tucked in the side of the first-aid kit, Samantha had stashed condoms and lubricant.

He complete forgot that there was a bleeding woman in the kitchen waiting for the first aid kit. Although he himself – and Jack, and every other male who travelled offworld – carried them with him offworld (an unspoken necessity that Hammond had insisted on, he didn't want any intergalactic paternity lawsuits) Daniel had never thought of it applying to women. He knew they had their shot things but that was mostly in the event of rape.

The way he saw it, she had packed condoms 'just in case'. Despite his promise not to think 'inappropriate thoughts', every moment of intimacy they'd shared in the last forty-eight hours came flooding back to him. His friendly kisses and caressing which she had accepted with that sweet little smile of hers, the way her fingers curled around his when he went to gold her hand, the way she rested her head against his chest… he stole another glance at the box of condoms and despite himself, he had a vision of Samantha rolling one on him and positioning herself to accept him…

"DANIEL! What the hell are you doing it there?" Samantha's voice snapped him out of his reverie – and, mercifully, killed any thoughts and his physical reaction to them. Grabbing the kit, he rushed back into the kitchen. Samantha grabbed the kit off him and immediately began working on Alanna's wound. "What took you so long?" she asked Daniel while she concentrated on the cut. It was deep, but not deep enough to need stiches, she decided – she had seen enough bad wounds and picked up enough from Janet to know that.

"Just got distracted," Daniel said vaguely. It was enough for Samantha, who was more concerned with Alanna then him. Despite the fact there was a woman bleeding and in a lot of pain in front of him, he was distracted by Samantha. God, she was beautiful. He licked his lips, which had suddenly become very dry.

Samantha fixed up Alanna's hand OK and gave her a small amount of morphine to help with the pain. Tiegan, the cause of the aggro, was nowhere to be seen, neither was her husband, which was cowardly on her part but no-one was complaining. The six of them sat down to lunch and then coffee over a long, friendly discussion. _This, _really, was why Samantha had wanted to come.

"You did great today," Daniel said late in the afternoon after they had retreated to their own bedrooms for a nap before dinner. Samantha was trying to get some rest, but she was too wired up. She was lying on her back on the bed, staring up at Daniel, who was propped up on one elbow looking down at her, smiling at her with affection and approval. Even though she was wired from her impromptu medical procedure, which she had to admit, she got a buzz from, she found being alone with Daniel quite relaxing, even more then being with him with the others. Maybe she could fall asleep after all. She wouldn't mind falling asleep in his arms again.

"It was nothing, just a cut, I've seen worse," she said. But it was nice to be appreciated, by both Alanna, who couldn't stop thanking her over lunch, and Daniel.

Daniel reached out to stroke her hair. She loved the way he stroked her hair, she loved the way he touched her fullstop. Daniel knew far more about women then he was given credit for – and, most importantly, how to treat them respectfully. Sha're had been an incredibly lucky women. Like always when she thought of Daniel's late wife, Samantha felt a little twinge of jealousy which she ignored.

"You still did great," he said. And before his courage failed him, he leaned down to kiss her.

He hadn't realised how much he'd been thinking about kissing Samantha until he'd done it, but when he did, he realised it was exactly as he'd imagined it – dozens of times. Her lips felt exactly as he'd imagined, soft, sweet, vaguely like the vanilla-flavoured lip balm she used…

For a split second, Samantha kissed him back and in that moment it was fantastic. And then it occurred to Samantha that she was _kissing_ her subordinate. And she pushed Daniel off her.

The moment she pushed him away, Daniel scrambled off the bed. "I'm sorry," he said. "That was way out of line." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand so he wouldn't be distracted by the lingering taste of her.

Samantha should have left it at that, it wasn't like Daniel would make the same mistake twice, but for some reason, she was annoyed at him. How dare he be so out of line? How dare he make her aware of how attracted she was to him? How dare he open such a can of worms? "What the hell were you thinking?" she demanded irritably.

"I'm sorry," he repeated lamely. "I just, uh, I just – "

"You just _what_, Daniel?" Samantha demanded.

"Just that before, when I was getting the first aid kit, I found your condoms and I thought – "

"You thought I brought them because I planned to sleep with you?" Samantha asked. Daniel just stood there, looking thoroughly ashamed and refusing to meet her eyes. That wasn't exactly what he'd been thinking, but since she'd put it like that, he felt thoroughly rotten. "_You_ carry condoms with you," she pointed out.

"That's different, I'm a guy." The words were out before Daniel could think about them ; otherwise, he would have known better then to say such a chauvinist thing to Samantha.

It was an argument that never failed to annoy Samantha. It was OK for _men _to carry condoms, then they were being responsible and that was admirable, but when it was a woman, she was just begging for sex. Her initial anger at Daniel kissing her was combined with self-righteous feminist anger. "You mean, because you're a guy, women are just throwing themselves at you?"

"That's not what I meant," Daniel said. "I just – look, I made a mistake."

"Damn right you made a mistake," Samantha said. She was being unreasonable, she knew, but she was angry at Daniel – angry that he'd exposed their obvious attraction (obvious to everyone but her, that was) and angry that he'd reverted to chauvinistic clichés. "You think just because you're doing me this one favour that I'm going to sleep with you?"

The vehemence in her voice made it sound like it would be just about the worst thing that could happen to her, and it pricked Daniel's male pride. "And that would be _such_ a terrible thing, wouldn't it," he said sarcastically. He headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Samantha asked, sounding far too possessive for her liking.

"Out," Daniel replied. He was not staying here with a woman who treated him like a leper over one little kiss. Jesus Christ, it had been a kiss and he's apologised, what more did she wanted? _To put me in my place, that's what_, he thought. She'd made it very clear that she had no interest in him – although she could have sworn she had kissed him back, just for a second.

Before Samantha could say anything else, Daniel was out of the bedroom and out of the house. He quickly got into his car and reversed out the driveway and started down the street. He didn't care where he went, only that he wasn't around Samantha.

His pride hurt. He didn't care that Samantha hadn't been interested – he could have gotten over that easily enough – he could have chalked up her supposed interest as crossed signals – but for her to act like he was so beneath her, like she wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. She had slept in his arms the night before, wasn't that a decent indication that she was interested? She could have just said no, but instead, she'd acted like he'd had some nerve in kissing her. No bloody wonder she was known as the ice queen around the base.

He drove around aimlessly for a while before finding himself passing a bar. It was as good a place as any to hang out for a while, and he drove into the carpark and made his way inside.

It was a decent enough bar, clean with no riff-raff. While it wasn't the standard someone like Tiegan would expect – or, rather, _demand_ – it was good enough for Daniel. He went up to the bar and ordered himself a drink.

He sat at the bar drinking slowly for a while, thinking about Samantha and silently fuming that she'd reacted the way she had. All she'd had to do was say he'd gotten the wrong idea and he would have left it at that but no, she'd had to act like he was an untouchable or something – good for pretending to be her boyfriend, but not actually _being_ her boyfriend. And what was so wrong with him, anyway? Daniel didn't have a whole lot of experience with women, but he'd had no complaints. Well, Sarah had complained that he as hardly ever around, but he had proven the opposite with Samantha well and truly. She'd had no right to act so outraged. She could have just said no, she didn't have to attack his ego like she had.

He dwelled on it for a while until an attractive woman in her mid twenties sat next to him. "You know," she said in a pleasant, almost flirtatious voice, "it's bad for the ego to drink alone."

Daniel took a good look at her. She had dark brown hair and brown eyes with a deep tan – nothing like Samantha. That was good. He took her words as a cue. "Can I buy you a drink?" he asked.

She smiled sheepishly. "Was I that obvious?" she asked.

"Just a little," he admitted, but there was no reproach in his voice. Here was a woman who didn't take herself too seriously. "But you're right, it's bad for the ego to drink alone. So have a drink with me, my shout."

The woman smiled. "Lemon, lime and vodka," she told the bartender. To Daniel she said, "I'm Sheryl."

"Daniel," Daniel said. She had a nice smile. He had a feeling she would be good for his ego.

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Samantha had no idea where Daniel had gone, only that he wasn't at the house. She had tried calling his mobile, but he had turned it off.

She had reacted badly, she knew that. It was just that he had unnerved her, the way he had kissed her… the way it had made her feel. She had the funny feeling that if she hadn't stopped it there and then she would have ended up having wild, passionate sex with him, and that, she tried to convince herself, would have been an unmitigated disaster.

It would have been an unmitigated disaster because no way could they stay on the same team after that, and Jack would be pissed that they'd broken up the excellent dynamic that was SG-1. It would have been an unmitigated disaster because work romances meant people were always talking about you, and Samantha _hated_ to have her personal life talked about. It would have been an unmitigated disaster because – because – Samantha struggled to come up with reasons who it would have been an unmitigated disaster.

It didn't help that while her brain was trying to convince her that a relationship with Daniel would have been a terrible idea, her body was still savouring the taste of his kiss and her heart was crying out to have him close by. She realised just how close they had become in the last two days that she missed having him around – more then she'd thought she would. Much more.

She wanted him to come home. She wanted to apologise.

She wanted him to kiss her again.

But she'd wounded his ego, she knew, and he wouldn't be coming home anytime soon. Oh, God, what had possessed her to act so rashly?

As the late afternoon became evening and the evening became night and Daniel was nowhere to be found, Samantha started to worry. She secretly called the police station and the hospitals and was told there was no-one of that description who'd been brought in or apprehended. Which meant he was out there somewhere, probably having a good time – without her. She didn't know weather to hate him or feel that she'd asked for it.

The hours wore on to past midnight, and Daniel still wasn't home. Finally Samantha decided to go to bed. If Daniel got home before morning he could always call her to get her to open the door – although she was so mad right now, she might not answer the phone.

It was funny how, after just two nights, it was hard to sleep without Daniel. She missed him. She wanted him back. And if he was with another woman, she wanted him to rot in hell.

After lying awake for two more hours willing Daniel to come home, Samantha fell into a restless sleep.

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Daniel and Sheryl hit it off immediately, and neither of them was drunk. He'd had a feeling he knew where the night was heading, and he vowed neither of them would be drunk. Anyway, he still had to drive home and he'd kept track of how much Sheryl was drinking, which wasn't much. So she wasn't into drunken sex either. Good. Daniel had never had to resort to plying a woman with alcohol to get laid, and he wasn't about to start now.

He found her attractive and easy to talk to. After two hours, he had almost forgotten Samantha's blunt rejection of him, certainly enough for him to notice that Sheryl was quite an attractive woman in her own right – and she'd been sending out strong signals all night. And she made it clear in a dozen subtle ways that she wasn't interested in a relationship (which was good, because he made it clear he was only here for another two days). Two grown adults who found each other attractive. What was wrong with that?

When it got close to midnight, he offered to drive her home. It was clear what he actually meant. She accepted gratefully, and it was clear what she meant by _that_. When he came to her house, she invited him inside for coffee. "I'd love to," he said.

He watched her start to make coffee. He had never had a one-night stand before and wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. God, she was attractive. He could honestly say he wasn't acting out of spite or revenge, although he had a feeling Samantha wouldn't see it that way. Well, he'd deal with her in the morning.

He walked up behind Cheryl, putting his hands on her hips. She didn't object, rather, leaned into him, her back pressed against his chest. It felt nice… sexy. Daniel began to kiss the back of her neck. She murmured appreciatively and for some insane reason Daniel felt the urge to blurt out, "I've never done this before. A one-night stand, I mean." His male pride had been battered once today already, he was not going to give this woman any impression that he was a virgin.

She turned around to face him, a playful smile on her face. "You know, I chose to sit with you because you seemed… nice. And damn attractive. And… I thought you'd be good in bed," she added provocatively.

She certainly knew how to stroke his ego. He wrapped his arms casually around her waist, drawing her close to him. "Really? What gave you that impression?"

"You looked… studious. Like you take pride in your work… all your work."

If she was trying to boost his confidence, it was working. "I take a lot of pride in my work," he said in a low voice as he lowered his mouth to kiss her…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four 

Daniel woke up slowly from a pleasant sleep – not quite as pleasant as Tuesday night's rest had been, but pleasant nonetheless – as he accustomed himself to his surroundings by process of elimination. This was not his apartment, or the dorms at the base, or the room he was sharing with Samantha.

He was in Cheryl's house, more specifically, in her bedroom – in her bed. After a very steamy night. And he felt surprisingly remorse-free. One-night stands had never been his thing, but last night had felt natural.

Barring his lingering anger at Samantha, of course. But he hadn't let that get in the way of his performance. He couldn't help but be just a little bit smug about that. It almost occurred to him that Samantha didn't know what she was missing.

He quickly forgot any lingering thoughts of the blonde he'd stormed out on when he turned to face the brunette he'd spent the night with. She was lying on her back, naked, and he gently ran his fingers down the front of her body. She had certainly liked it last night, and it didn't fail to wake her up this morning.

"Morning," he said casually when she opened her eyes.

She smiled. "Good morning to you too," she said. "Sleep well?"

"Wonderfully," he murmured, stroking her hair intimately. "Although that may have been I was so relaxed before I went to sleep."

"Really?" Cheryl feigned surprise. "What caused that?"

"I have some idea…" Daniel murmured, kissing Cheryl. He let his hand wander down her body until he got the response he was after. "Do you have to be anywhere anytime soon?" he asked suggestively.

"No," she replied. "Do you?"

Daniel glanced over at the clock on her dresser. It was ten am. Samantha would be absolutely furious by now. Well, whether he got home in half an hour, or an hour and a half, she would be just as furious so he may as well enjoy himself. "No," he said, and he leaned down to kiss her again.

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It hadn't escaped Tiegan's notice that Daniel had left later yesterday afternoon and hadn't come home. And there was only ever one reason for a man staying out all night, at least in Tiegan's experience. So he and Samantha clearly weren't that happy. Tiegan _knew_ there had been something up there. She grinned maliciously to herself.

While Samantha wasn't looking, Tiegan had swiped Daniel's phone number out of her phone and took the liberty of calling him

Daniel had put his phone on silent, not switched it off, and Cheryl noticed it light up where he'd left on the chest of draws next to the bed. She took the liberty of answering it. "Hello?" she asked.

"Hi," Tiegan said pleasantly, delighted that a woman had answered the phone, confirming her suspicions. "Is Daniel there?"

"Daniel's in the shower," Cheryl said. "Who is this?"

"I'm a friend of Daniel's, a bunch of us were supposed to meet for breakfast but he never showed. We just wanted to know where he is."

"Do you want me to get him to call you back?" Cheryl asked. She accepted Tiegan's story at face value about being a friend of Daniel's – she didn't sound like a jealous girlfriend, and besides, Daniel had said he was here for the week with friends – but she didn't want to discuss their night together with someone she didn't know.

"No, that's OK, I just wanted to know he's OK," Tiegan said pleasantly. It would be all the better for a confrontation if Daniel didn't know it was coming.

She hung up the phone and walked into the lounge room, where Samantha and everyone else were hanging out following breakfast. Samantha was trying not to look at the door.

"Sam," she said, the syrupy sweetness in her voice doing little to mask the maliciousness, "is it often that Daniel's phone is answered by another woman this early in the morning?"

She had got her, Tiegan thought maliciously when Samantha visibly paled – visible enough that everyone else saw it. The story about Daniel's late wife may have been true enough for Samantha to wing it when confronted, but clearly, she had no such story for this. Daniel had been busted playing around and Samantha had been busted in her pathetic little facade.

"Well?" Tiegan asked impatient when Samantha was at a loss for words. "I'm waiting. Where is Daniel exactly? Or don't you know?" She clucked her tongue in mock-sympathy, although she had no sympathy for a woman who had tried to pull the wool over her eyes. She had always known there was something up with them, no way would someone like Daniel go for someone like Samantha.

For a few moments, Samantha just stared at Tiegan, trying to think of a plausible excuse for Daniel's behaviour. Nothing came. That, and she was struggling to deal with the confirmation that Daniel _had_ spent the night with another woman – she didn't doubt Tiegan was telling the truth there.

_Daniel had spent the night with another woman_.

She felt like her heart was breaking, and she had no idea why. She had no claim to Daniel – she had made that clear yesterday. She decided she was angry because he'd been so indiscreet. Yeah, that was it. Thanks to Daniel and his stupid male pride he'd exposed their relationship as a fraud and now she looked even more pathetic then if she'd shown up without him.

_Damn him_.

Instead of bothering to reply with some lame explanation that wouldn't fly, Samantha fled to her room, with Tiegan smiling triumphantly to her retreating back. "I _knew_ she was a fraud," Tiegan said to the other four. "I just _knew_ it – what?" she asked indignantly when she saw the disgusted looks she was getting from Sarah and Alanna.

"You didn't have to be such a cow about it," Sarah said.

"She lied," Tiegan pointed out indignantly.

"Maybe because you made her feel so inadequate," Sarah retorted. "And anyway," she added, "he must care about her a lot to go along with it." _Which is more then I can say for Phillip_. Alanna nodded her agreement.

"The two of you are such softies," Tiegan complained, and flounced off to enjoy her victory with the one person who would savour it – herself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I enjoyed last night," Daniel said, not sure exactly how to end this. He wasn't going to be so clichéd as to ask for her number when he had no intention of using it but he didn't know what to do.

Cheryl smiled. "You don't have to act like you want to see me again," she said helpfully." Then she added, "I enjoyed last night, too. It was fun – let's leave it at that."

He kissed her goodbye before getting into his car. He didn't think he'd be doing something like that again anytime soon, but last night, it had felt right. And it had certainly done a lot to soothe his wounded ego. He wondered if she had sensed that his mind just been somewhere else, just marginally, or if she did, if she cared or not. He smirked to himself. He had made her climax three times, he didn't think she cared.

When he got home, he noticed the house was suspiciously quiet, like all conversation had stopped dead when he'd come in. "What's up?" he asked.

"Tiegan knows," Sarah said darkly. "And so does Sam." Daniel opened his mouth but Sarah cut him off. "Don't try and explain anything to us. You need to talk to Sam."

"What do you think their deal is?" Sarah asked Alanna after Daniel had gone to see Samantha.

"I don't know. I don't know if they faked the whole thing or he was cheating on her – but he doesn't seem like the type to cheat. But he must care about her – you can't fake something like that."

"Yeah," Sarah agreed. "They seemed so happy together, the way he treated her – you can't fake that. I hope they work it out." Although from the yelling that was coming from the bedroom, it was hard to believe that.

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"How could you be so indiscreet?" was the first thing Samantha yelled to Daniel when he walked in the door. She had been silently fuming for the last hour and a hour, getting angrier and angrier, all the while convincing herself that she was only pissed off at Daniel because he'd been indiscreet and now Tiegan knew their relationship was a sham.

"Hey, I'm single, you made that quite clear last night," Daniel retorted, resentful that he'd come back from a fantastic night to be greeted by a very pissed off Samantha. What did she want from him, fidelity? He had told her she was playing with fire and she should quite while she was ahead, but no, she'd had to provoke and provoked Tiegan until Tiegan was desperate to get some dirt on them. "What I do is my business."

"You gave Tiegan the ammunition she was after," Samantha accused him.

"No, _you_ did that when you kept provoking her," Daniel countered. "I told you we should go home while we were ahead of the game, but no, you had to give her even more reason to prove that this is a sham."

How dare he act like this was her fault! _He_ was the one who picked some random chick up at some random bar – which she was _not_ upset about, only the fact he'd been indiscreet. "Don't you dare make this out to be my fault!" she yelled. "_You're_ the one who acted like a typical male and went out to get laid at the first sign of trouble!"

Ah, so that was it, Daniel realised. She didn't want him but she didn't want anyone else to have him. "Don't tell me you're _jealous_?" he asked with a small smirk.

Infuriated, Samantha crossed the floor between them and slapped him with all her strength – which was considerable. "I wouldn't touch you with a ten-foot pole!" she yelled.

She was saying one thing with her mouth and another with her eyes. Daniel wrapped his arms around her tightly, pinning her arms to her sides, and kissed her hard.

She struggled against him for a few seconds and then kissed him back. It was hard and passionate, and after a few more seconds he scooped her into his arms and dropped her on the bed, straddling her and continuing their kiss.

It was wonderful, it was more then anything she had expected – not that she had thought about it, of course. She had never been with a man who could be so passionate, so dominating, who forced her to face up to her feelings, however violent and inappropriate and messy that they were…

He was already working on the buttons on her shirt, and she did nothing to stop him. Her angry words had brought to the surface every intense feeling he had for her and she being putty in his hands while he acted on them was… _exhilarating. _She inhaled, and she breathed in Cheryl's smell, which was still on Daniel's clothes. It brought her back to reality immediately. Daniel had spent the night with another woman, and now he had the audacity to expect that she would sleep with him – that she would have anything to do with him.

Reverting back to her typical self, she kneed Daniel in the groin as hard as she could. With a howl of absolute agony, Daniel slid off her and stumbled off the bed. "What the hell was that for?" he demanded. One moment she was making out with him, practically begging for him to rip her clothes off, the next she was delivering pain.

"You are an asshole!" she yelled. "You think I'd have anything to do with you after you were with that – that _tramp_?" she demanded incredulously. Never mind that she had almost given herself to him… it took all her military discipline not to throw herself back into his arms.

"Hey, at least Cheryl didn't go completely schizo on me," Daniel countered.

Samantha glared at him. "Don't you dare," she spat, "don't…you…dare say her name." She would not cry. She would not act like the betrayed woman. Instead, she channelled her feelings of betrayal into anger.

Daniel took a step towards her. "Please, Sam – " he began.

"Stay the hell away from me," she ordered. If he touched her, she wasn't sure she'd be able to resist him. As it was, she couldn't help look at his lips and want to be kissed again. She gathered her resolve. She _would not _give into him after he'd been with that – that _tramp_. What would that say about her? That she would be happy taking sloppy seconds. "You touch me and I'll – I'll have you charged for sexual harassment."

Daniel paled visibly. "You can't be serious," he said.

Good, she'd shaken him – if only as badly as he'd rattled her. "I'm very serious," she said coolly. She wouldn't let him see how baldy he'd hurt her. Clearly, she couldn't mean that much to her if he could sleep with some other woman hours after kissing her.

For a moment, Daniel looked devastated as he realised just how angry Samantha was. Samantha got a perverse sense of satisfaction out of it. _You just think about what you lost, buddy_, she thought, although she didn't take nearly as much satisfaction out of it as she thought she would have.

Then Daniel's eyes cleared up, became focused. If Samantha was going to hold one little indiscretion against him when she had no claim on him – something she had made very clear – then it was much better that he found this out now then after he got involved with her. That's what he told himself, anyway. His subconscious snuck in a thought about how good it would be to kiss her again.

"Fine," he said, then added quite harshly, just to cut her up as much as she'd cut him up, "it was only sex anyway."

It as a mean, vindictive thing to say and he didn't get nearly as much satisfaction out of her reaction as he thought he would. "I'm going home," he declared before she had the opportunity to say anything. "This stupid facade has fallen to pieces and I'm not hanging around just to see it through."

Samantha knew he was right. She also knew she would never hear the end of it from Tiegan, slinking away in defeat like this. But there was no help for it. The alternative was to stick around and listen to Tiegan crow for another day. The best of a sorry situation was to cut her losses and walk away.

And never speak to Daniel again once they got home.

"Fine," she spat. "Give me fifteen minutes. Oh, and I'd have a shower and change your clothes if I were you. You stink of that whore."

"Just because she's not an uptight ice queen doesn't make her a whore," Daniel retorted.

Needless to say, the trip back to Colorado Springs was icy. Samantha and Daniel didn't say a word to each other which, over two hours, was quite a feat. When he pulled over at the side of the road at Samantha's house, he merely pulled the handle to open the boot. "Make sure you close it again," he said stiffly. They were the only six words he had spoken since leaving the house. She had made it clear what she thought of him, he didn't see that there was anything more to be said.

Perhaps if he'd said something – anything – on the drive home she would have been able to turn it into a conversation. Already, she was sorry she had treated Daniel so badly. She had acted out of jealousy and he had given as good as he got. But he wasn't going to make it easy for her to make it up to him, and she was too proud to grovel.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

A week later, after she was back at work, Samantha got a call from Alanna. At first she was tempted not to answer, but she decided Alanna hadn't done anything to her and besides, she was entitled to some answers.

"Hey, Sam, I just wanted to know how you were going," Alanna said when Samantha answered the phone.

"You mean, you want to know what possessed me to fake having a boyfriend?" Samantha corrected.

"I know why you faked having a boyfriend – Tiegan can be pretty mean," Alanna admitted. "I was more curious why Daniel went along with it. He was really convincing, he must really care about you."

"I doubt it," Samantha said dryly. SG-1 hadn't been on a mission yet, so Daniel had done his best to avoid her. She didn't know what would be worse, Daniel avoiding her when he was able to, or Daniel being forced to stay in close proximity to her and still trying to avoid her.

"Sam, you should have seen the way he smiled when you entered the room. I don't know if he even realised it, but it was obvious to everyone else. What – what exactly happened that he… did what he did?"

"You mean how badly did I reject him when he kissed me?" Samantha asked hollowly. Oh, God, if she could only take things back and kiss him back instead of acting like he was beneath her.

"I didn't want to put it like that but since you mentioned it, yeah," Alanna said.

Samantha sighed. "He kissed me, and I basically accused him of trying to take advantage of the situation, and that there was no way I would ever get together with him." Put like that, she could understand why Daniel had gotten so upset. She hadn't realised she'd been quite so mean about it.

Alanna winced down the line. "He seems like a pretty sensitive guy, Sam, that must have really hurt him."

Since Alanna was being so non-judgemental about it, Samantha admitted to the altercation they'd had on Thursday. "I just – I could smell her on his clothes, and I got so mad so I lashed out," she admitted. She was close to tears and she hated herself for it. She _never_ cried over guys – _never_.

And Alanna knew this, so she knew Daniel had to mean something special to her if she was crying over him. "Why don't you try talking to him, Sam?" she suggested. "I'm sure if he knows how you feel –"

"No," Samantha interrupted her. "You didn't see the way he was on the way home, and the way he's been ever since. I think he hates me. I blew it completely."

Somehow, Alanna didn't believe Samantha. A man didn't look at a woman the way Daniel had been looking at Samantha and just switch off their feelings overnight. But there was no convincing Samantha of that. Alanna just hoped her friend came to that conclusion on her own.

A few days later, SG-1 went on their first mission since their much-deserved break. Samantha and Daniel would have been glad to have not had the break – or at least had a chance to do things over. Daniel would never have gone away with Samantha, and he certainly wouldn't have been stupid enough to kiss her, and Samantha would have kissed him back the first time.

"Are you going to talk to me?" Samantha asked after they'd walked in silence for half a mile. They were navigating their way down a steep, rocky hill and they really shouldn't have been talking, but the silence was driving Samantha crazy.

"Is it related to the mission?" Daniel asked.

"No."

"There's your answer."

Daniel could be really mean when he wanted to. Samantha supposed she had provoked him, just a little.

"You can't just not speak to me forever more."

"I plan on speaking to you… if it's related to the mission. You made it very clear we are team-mates and that's it." Not to mention he had the memory of an elephant ; he wasn't going to forget that anytime soon.

"You can be a real ass sometimes, Daniel," Samantha snapped.

"And _you_ can be an ice-queen," Daniel retorted. "No wonder Jonas ditched you." He knew that wasn't exactly the truth but he wanted to hurt her like she'd hurt him.

"_I_ dumped _him_," Samantha reminded him. And in the spirit of meanness – which Daniel had started – she couldn't resist adding, "at least _I_ didn't sleep with a Goa'uld queen… or the Destroyer of Worlds." Behind Daniel's back, there was a running joke about his success with women – Hathor, Leanna/Kera, a wife and an ex taken as Goa'uld hosts. Cheryl must have been the first woman in ten years he'd gone to bed with who was remotely 'normal'.

It was an extremely low thing to bring up, and the reason why it was a running joke _behind Daniel's back_ ; he was extremely sensitive about it, Hathor especially. There weren't many guys who could claim to have nearly been responsible for the creation of a new species of civilisation-destroying parasites. "I didn't realise you could be such a bitch," he retorted.

She reached out to slap him. He grabbed her wrist tightly before she could, and she wrenched it away, in the process losing her footing and falling badly, sliding down the hill nearly thirty meters and landing badly with a scream.

As best as they could, Daniel, Jack and Teal'c navigated their way down to her. Daniel hovered around uncertainly, his heart caught in his throat as Jack gently propped Samantha up. She seemed OK, a few bad bruises but nothing major except for her right arm, which was quite obviously broken.

"We'll have to go back to Earth," Jack stated the obvious. He and Teal'c helped Samantha back up the hill, which proved a lot harder then getting down it in the first place. Daniel trudged miserably behind them, feeling terrible for being partly responsible for Samantha falling. If he hadn't been squabbling with her – he vowed to make it up to her.

They got back to earth where Janet put Samantha through the usual battery of tests, and got the suspected results – Samantha's arm was broken, and badly. "You're lucky you didn't break anything else," Janet said. "Jack described it as a pretty nasty fall."

Samantha whimpered as her broken arm was being set. She had broken bones before, but they had never hurt this badly. "Just let me set it, then I can give you something for it," Janet said sympathetically. "How exactly did it happen?"

"Daniel and I were arguing. I went to slap him and lost my balance," Samantha said. Almost on cue, Daniel appeared at the door to the infirmary, hovering uncertainly. He had been see-sawing between thinking Samantha would want to be left alone and wanting to know that she was OK ; eventually, his desire to see that she was OK won out and he went to see her.

Samantha's arm was throbbing and she was going to be off active duty for at least two months thanks to her fall. She was irritated and wanted to lash out and who was better to lash out at then the person partially responsible for her fall? She saw Daniel standing in the doorway and yelled, "Go away! I don't want to see you!" She turned to Janet. "Make him go away," she begged.

She was clearly agitated, so Janet felt the best thing to do was ask Daniel to leave. "I'm sorry, she's upset at the moment," Janet said. "Give her some time."

"No I get the picture," Daniel said. Samantha hated him. OK, so he was kind of responsible for her fall, but she'd been just as mean to him as he had to her, and she was the one who had gone to slap him. He'd only been defending herself. "I don't need to be told twice." And with that he left. Samantha had made it perfectly clear she wanted nothing more to do with him. He was happy to oblige her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five 

Daniel made no second attempt to apologise to Samantha. It was clear she wanted nothing more to do with him. He was hurt that she was so willing to throw away their friendship over something that had started off so small, but if that was the way she wanted it…

Samantha was sorry she had let things deteriorate so quickly between her and Daniel. She honestly hadn't meant for it to go so far. If he had ever given her the opportunity to apologise, a smile or a friendly greeting, she would have all but thrown herself in his arms begging for a second chance. But he never did. She had thrown his feelings for her back at him too hard, stomped on his heart and ego too thoroughly for him to give her a second chance like that.

Well, it was more like a third chance after the way she'd yelled at him in the infirmary. Daniel certainly knew how to be there when she was pissed off. God, she felt bad about that. If she hadn't been in so much pain and pissed off about the fact she was off-duty for at least two months – but it was too late for that now. Daniel hated her.

It had been obvious for that little outburst to everyone that Samantha and Daniel were unable to work together. Hammond had asked them both about it, and neither would give a straight answer ; it was something they would both prefer to forget about – the other had made it perfectly clear they had.

Hammond approached Daniel first, wanting to know if there was anyway he and Samantha could work out what was going on between them, because if there wasn't, they wouldn't have to be separated. Samantha's broken arm was a stark reminder of what could happen when the team wasn't focused.

He had immediately volunteered to be reassigned. He didn't care where he went, he just didn't want to be close to Samantha when she obviously resented his presence. It broke his heart to think about it, and he tried to tell himself that if she was going to be so unreasonable – but it rarely worked, and for the better part of a week he moped about what could have been.

Samantha's heart fell when she heard Daniel had requested a transfer. She wasn't told directly, of course, but heard it through the grapevine. Within a day everyone knew that Doctor Jackson and Major Carter had had a falling out and he refused to work with her anymore – that was some of the nicer things that were being said.

She made herself get over it, as much as she could. It hurt that Daniel was so determined not to forgive her. What she'd give to take it back…

"Has it ever occurred to you to just _talk_ to him?" Janet asked Samantha one day when she caught the scientist looking off into space, a sad, wistful look in her eyes.

"And let him insult me again?" she asked. "Or refuse to talk to me? You didn't hear him on our last mission, Jan. He absolutely refused to say anything that wasn't related to the mission. I blew it big time."

"Well, you certainly could have handled a few things better," Janet agreed diplomatically. "But I think you underestimate how much he cares about you. He wouldn't have gone with you if he didn't. And he can't have just switched those feelings off like that."

Alanna had said something similar, and Samantha had taken much comfort out of those words, either. She just couldn't face up to Daniel again, couldn't bear it if he directed all the bitter sarcasm he could muster at her. She had honestly thought nothing would hurt more then the fact Daniel could go out and sleep with another woman hours after kissing her, but she had never fully appreciated Daniel's command of the English language – and twenty-six other languages…

No, better to pretend like it didn't matter, pretend like she didn't care, then subject herself to that again.

Janet knew better then to try and talk to Daniel about it. It was clear from the way his blue eyes clouded over when she mentioned Samantha's name – and it was unintentionally too, meant as a throwaway remark – that she had hurt him deeply and any attempts to get them to reconcile would fall of deaf ears. No, any peace offerings would have to come from Samantha, and she was just as determined as Daniel not to risk her heart again.

Of course, it didn't take long for the rumour mill to cotton on to the mutual attractiveness of Daniel and Captain Miranda Patterson, the newest and most junior member of SG-4. Like any workplace where the workforce was fairly contained, there was a lot of gossip, and when you got two attractive people spending a lot of time together for whatever reason, there were always going to be suggestions that they were together. It didn't help that Daniel and Miranda had hit it off immediately – just as friends, of course, but what kind of story did that make? – and could usually be found in one or the other's offices, having a grand old time.

It didn't take long for the gossip to reach Samantha's ears. For some reason, several people had thought that, since various rumours credited her as being his dumped girlfriend, discarded lover or harbouring an unrequited love for him, she should be the first to know.

She smiled indifferently and pretended like she didn't care. "What Daniel does is none of my business," she told anyone who was rude enough to ask. She said this with so much feigned indifference that several people were sorely disappointed that they weren't going to get the hysterics of a scorned woman. No, she would not give them that satisfaction.

Inwardly, though, she was crying. She couldn't believe Daniel had forgotten about her so quickly. The only reason that could be for was that he hadn't cared that much to begin with. She'd thought there was love in his kiss, but maybe that was just lust. Maybe he only wanted her the same way he'd wanted the Cheryl woman. Maybe someone like Miranda Patterson was more to his taste.

She didn't often cry about it, and never in the base, but one day it all came to a head and her restraint abandoned her. She'd been in the mess hall – alone, thankfully, she usually hung out with Jack and Teal'c but if they'd seen the way she'd reacted they might have tried to stop her and she would have ended up crying in the mess hall – and seen Daniel and Miranda, laughing about something – probably her, she thought bitterly, and what an ass she'd been. She wondered if they laughed about her a lot.

Daniel had looked up and caught her staring at him. Was she actually showing an interest in him? People had been clamouring to report to him that Samantha had shown an utter indifference to his supposed dating of Miranda. Not that he'd be so unprofessional (somehow, the idea of dating Samantha didn't seem the same as dating another member of the Stargate Command), but he'd been kind of hurt. Clearly, he hadn't meant much to her.

He smiled encouragingly, hoping this meant maybe she cared in some way. She took his smile as a smug one – _you didn't mean anything to me, see how I've moved on_. She couldn't take it, she couldn't stay in the same room as Daniel and watching his smug little romance blooming. She fled to the sanctuary of her office and cried.

Janet found her ten minutes later, sobbing her heart out. She had never seen Samantha cry over a man – except all the times Daniel had 'died', interestingly enough – and it was a little disconcerting to see it happen. "Sam, honey, what's wrong?" she asked, although she already knew what was wrong. Daniel, always Daniel.

"Nothing, go away," Samantha ordered her friend.

Like Janet was going to abandon a friend in need. "You know, he doesn't care about her nearly as much as he cares about you," she told Samantha.

"I said go away!" Samantha ordered, embarrassed that anyone, even Janet, should see her crying.

Janet went, fed up with this stupid game Samantha and Daniel were playing. It was time for her to intervene she marched down to the mess hall, not-so-politely grabbed Daniel and began dragging him out. "Hey!" Daniel yelled indignantly. "What gives?"

"I am sick of watching you and Samantha pretend like you don't care about each other," Janet said. "She's _crying_ over you, Daniel, and if you don't do something about it I swear I'll kick your ass from here to Sunday." Janet could be very aggressive when she wanted to be, and Daniel didn't doubt she'd be after his blood if he didn't make Samantha stop crying.

"She made it very clear she wasn't interested," Daniel declared stubbornly. "The first time I kissed her she basically told me I wasn't good enough for her and that I was a sleaze for even thinking of it, and the second time she threatened me with sexual harassment!"

"She didn't tell me about that," Janet admitted. No wonder Daniel was so upset. "But I'm sure she had good reason to."

"Yeah," Daniel said sullenly. "She's a schizophrenic ice-queen."

"She is not, she's just hurt that you treated her so badly. Oh, don't give me any excuses about how badly she treated you – the pair of you had been equally mean to each other and I'm sick of it. The two of you obviously care about each other, now go and do something about it." And with that she practically pushed Daniel against Samantha's office door.

Tentatively, Daniel opened the door. Janet hadn't been kidding that Samantha was crying ; it was quite a shock to the system, he'd never seen Samantha cry – although he'd been told by other people that she'd cried every time she'd thought he was dead. Suddenly, all his resentment towards her evaporated. _She was crying over him! She had to care! _"I told you to go away, Janet," she ordered through her tears, not looking up when she heard the door open.

"It's not Janet, Sam, it's me, Daniel," Daniel said softly. Samantha looked up in surprise, and then resentment as the number-one person she did not want to see her crying was seeing her crying. Clearly, Janet had gone and gotten him, although what she'd said to him to make him come, Samantha didn't think she wanted to know. Probably threatened him with castration.

"Go away," she ordered him.

"No." He said down beside her. "Janet said you were crying… over me."

"Don't flatter yourself. Janet's full of crap," Samantha lied, not very well. Oh, God, she loved his eyes. And she couldn't help but looking at his mouth, remembering how good it had felt when he'd kissed her. She trembled slightly at the memory.

Sighing, Daniel cupped Samantha's face and used this thumbs to wipe away her tears. He figured he really had nothing to lose by being honest – except maybe having it thrown back in his face again, and if she did, well, it wasn't his fault for lack of trying. "I'm sick of this, Sam," he said. "I really like you and everytime I've tried to do something about it you've thrown it back in my face."

"You slept with that woman… after you kissed me," Samantha reminded him. "How do you think that made me feel? Like I was just… something to satisfy your lust."

"You made me feel like scum just for kissing you!" Daniel pointed out indignantly. "When all you had to do was say there'd been a misunderstanding. I was pissed off, Sam. You made me feel like a sleaze, and you know I'm not like that. I really wanted to be with you and… you just blew me off completely."

He sniffled slightly, which meant he was close to tears himself. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "You took me by surprise… you made me realise how attracted to you I was... and how messy it would be, and –"

Her words were cut off when Daniel kissed her. It was more assertive then their first kiss, not as demanding as their second – she inhaled, and smiled to herself as she breathed the scent of her office and Daniel – and not Cheryl. She opened her mouth to let Daniel kiss her properly, whimpering in delight as one hand roamed her body freely, his other arm wrapping itself securely around her waist. "Yes," she whispered hoarsely between kisses. When he pushed her down onto the couch, she eagerly wrapped her legs around his waist. She ran her finger across his chest, feeling his heartbeat, through his hair, twisting his locks around her fingers, something she'd always wanted to do. "Daniel," she groaned his name. She ground her against him hard, and the result was instantaneous.

"Sam," he muttered thickly, pausing their kisses so he could look down into her eyes. He was hungry for her, and it gave her a thrill. "I've been thinking so much about how I want to make love to you, and I swear if I don't take you home right now, I'm going to take you here and now."

It was a tempting offer but the consequences would be massive. There was already enough talk about why Daniel and Samantha had been separated, they didn't need talk about their wild, passionate sex in her office on top of that. "Just let me let Hammond know we're leaving," Samantha said. She was sure the General wouldn't mind, neither of them had anything pressing and besides, he'd been hinting at a reconciliation between the two of them for some time now…

She had known from experience that Daniel could be aggressive, although she hadn't entirely been expecting it – which didn't mean it wasn't welcome. As soon as they got in the front door of her house, he was all over her, and she was returning his advances with equal passion and hunger. Several years of pent-up attraction was about to explode.

It was over quickly, although they were both sated. "Mmmm…" Daniel murmured, pulling Samantha in against him, so he was spooning her. "I think I'm falling in love with you."

She snuggled up against him. She couldn't believe they had been so foolish and wasted so much time. "I think I'm falling in love with _you_," she replied. Then, "Do you want to stay the night."

He laughed softly. "I'm naked in your bed, I think that was a given."

"Screw you, Daniel," she said good-naturedly.

He leaned over and turned her on her back so he could look down at her. "I'd much rather…" he began with a knowing leer.

She leaned up to kiss him. "Shut up, Daniel," she said, her words soon forgotten in the passion of their kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six– Epilogue 

_Three months later_

Things settled down surprisingly quickly after Daniel and Samantha came out as a couple. It was interesting news for a few days, but after it became clear there was no good gossip to be had from such a happy, professional couple, they were more or less left alone.

One day they got sent to some kind of government ball. They didn't know what exactly, only that it was an important one, with a bunch of bigwigs from various government departments and they got chosen to go. Well, actually, _Samantha_ got chosen to go as part of her cover title for the Stargate program, Daniel went as her partner. It was going to be boring, but it was also going to be kind of exciting as their first official outing as a couple.

"You look gorgeous," Daniel said when he saw her. She was wearing a skin-hugging red dress with thick halterneck straps that flared out at the waist. He stood by what he'd thought about preferring women who were low-maintenance but it was nice when Samantha occasionally took the time to doll herself up.

She smiled ; she had known, despite what Daniel had said about preferring low-maintenance women, then he would appreciate the effort she'd taken to look nice. "You don't look too bad yourself," she teased. Daniel scrubbed up quite well.

After an hour Daniel discreetly whisked Samantha into a deserted hall so he could kiss her. "I've barely been able to keep my hands off you," he admitted, pushing her against the wall for leverage. "I've been thinking about taking that dress off."

It was tempting to take off with Daniel right now, but it really was important that they stay, at least for another hour. But they wouldn't be missed for at least ten minutes more, and she could think of much better things to be doing in those ten minutes then be talking to puffed-up heads of department…

They could hear voices emerging from the main ballroom, which they ignored until the screaming couple were streaming past them and they reluctantly broke off their kisses. It was none other then Tiegan and Phillip, interrupted from an almighty blue by the equally surprising vision of Samantha and Daniel, practically making out in the hall.

Tiegan eyed them suspiciously. "I thought you guys weren't really together," she spat.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to send you a thankyou note about that," Daniel piped up before Samantha could say anything. "If it hadn't been for you we never would have gotten together for real." He snaked an arm around her possessively and drew her to his side. Samantha rested her head on Daniel's shoulder, grinning smugly at Tiegan.

Tiegan looked absolutely gutted. Out of the corner of her eye, Samantha could see another woman – quite young, in her early twenties, probably some stuffed-up General's daughter – peering around the corner. She took that to mean that Phillip's playing around had becoming increasingly indiscreet.

"I think we should be getting back inside," Samantha said to Daniel, looking up at him adoringly. Hand in hand, Samantha and Daniel walked back into the ballroom, leaving Phillip and Tiegan to duke it out over the remains of their miserable marriage.

It couldn't have worked out better if they'd planned it themselves.


End file.
